


cats in the cradle (ignore the silver spoon)

by iDragonSpyro



Category: Warrior Nun (TV)
Genre: Allergies, Cats, Convenience Stores, F/F, Fluff, GAY!, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Kissing, Mutual Pining, Pining, Rated T for swearing, allergic reactions described based on real events, ava is a dumbass, beatrice is oblivious, blue russians are hypoallergenic and ava Deserves It, everyone else is tired, get saline sprays for your health, neti pots are the devil, shaw - Freeform, thank you discord, this wasn't supposed to take so long
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:48:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25421905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iDragonSpyro/pseuds/iDragonSpyro
Summary: It starts in an alley.Because duh, they’re cats, where else is it going to start.Ignoring the obvious adorableness of the scene (okay, so, let’s be honest, there was never any ignoring Beatrice and any attempts to convince herself otherwise ended with Ava staring at her for longer than was considered appropriate and being whacked by Mary), Ava is not entirely as enraptured by the kittens as Beatrice seems to be. She’s not sure why, she can’t quite put her finger on it, but she doesn’t think interacting with the kittens will lead to anything good.
Relationships: Sister Beatrice/Ava Silva
Comments: 21
Kudos: 356
Collections: Cat-holic Nuns





	cats in the cradle (ignore the silver spoon)

It starts in an alley.

Because duh, they’re cats, where else is it going to start.

Ava blinks down at Beatrice, who is crouched on the ground, surrounded by a horde of kittens. They had appeared out of nowhere while Ava and Beatrice had been on their way back to Cat’s Cradle, and showed no signs of leaving any time soon. Beatrice seems perfectly okay with that.

“Hi,” she coos at an orange kitten. “Hello, how are you?”

Ignoring the obvious adorableness of the scene (okay, so, let’s be honest, there was never any ignoring Beatrice and any attempts to convince herself otherwise ended with Ava staring at her for longer than was considered appropriate and being whacked by Mary), Ava is not entirely as enraptured by the kittens as Beatrice seems to be. She’s not sure why, she can’t quite put her finger on it, but she doesn’t think interacting with the kittens will lead to anything good.

But then Beatrice looks up at her, eyes wide and practically covered with the squirming cats, and says something about _look at them, they need baths and some food and water-_ and really, what was Ava supposed to say?

Mary and Lilith both go on long rants about _responsibility_ and _being focused_ and _we are trying to figure out how to kill a devil why did you bring kittens here_ but Camila grins and holds two of them in her arms and Beatrice sits and smiles down at her lap while three freshly bathed kittens clamber over her legs, so Ava feels content that they made (re: her huge-ass crush on Beatrice coerced her into making) the right decision.

Three days later and Ava is convinced that she was wrong. Her nose is getting stuffy, and her head hurts, and her stomach is queasy, and whenever she’s too close to one of the cats she gets the sudden urge to sneeze but it never manages to actually make its way out of her mouth. She’s sure it’s some kind of cold, or something equally harmless, since the Halo hasn’t felt the need to kick it out of her system yet.

These are the thoughts running through her mind as she wanders a small convenience store with Beatrice. Mary and Lilith, while they were warming up to the kittens, had brought up the very valid point that if they were gonna keep the cats, they had to actually take care of the cats.

Ava’s not entirely sure what the girl at the cashier is thinking as Beatrice, dressed in her habit, and Ava, dressed in not her habit, walk up to the counter with several bags of pet supplies and also toothpaste (Camila had insisted they try to maintain some semblance of hygiene), placing it all down, but it can’t possibly be the craziest thing she’s ever seen because she just sighs and starts scanning everything, and that’s good because Ava doesn’t currently have enough brainpower to focus on anything but the scratch in her throat.

Ava’s nose starts to itch at the same time a tiny mewl comes from Beatrice’s backpack.

She looks over to see Beatrice shrugging the bag off to pet the little fuzzy head that was peeking through the top. Ava rubs quickly at her nose, trying to get rid of the itch.

The girl had stopped scanning and was now staring at Beatrice. Her eyes flick from her to Ava and back again. “You want any food dishes? There aren’t any here.”

Beatrice straightens up, looking vaguely sheepish. “Oh! Yes, where are those?”

The girl points towards the back of the store, watching as Beatrice walks off, still stroking the cat’s head. As soon as she’s out of sight, she switches her gaze to Ava, who manages to let out a pitiful sneeze.

“Shit, dude, are you dying?” the girl asks, searching under the counter for something.

Ava shakes her head. “No, I think just a cold, started a couple of days ago just after we got the cats-”

The girl slams a bottle of pills down on the counter and scans it immediately, shoving it at Ava. “Yeah, figured. You’re allergic.”

Ava blinks. “What?”

“Allergic, you’re allergic to the cats. That’s why you can hardly talk through the stuffiness and the sore throat. Lemme guess, she wanted a cat and you were too smitten to say anything?”

“We aren’t-” Ava chokes, waving her hands. “We aren’t together.”

The girl raises a brow and grins. “Never said you were.”

Ava squeaks.

The girl snorts and writes something on a loose scrap of paper, tucking it under the bottle. “My name’s Shaw, these are my usual hours if you need a refill. One a day always, should be good to start.”

Ava stares at the pills. “What are they?”

Shaw waves her hand. “Allegra. Or something. Generic antihistamine. They’re pretty safe.”

She can hear Beatrice starting to come back. She grabs the pills and shoves them into her sweatshirt pocket, picking up the slip of paper.

Beatrice puts several metallic bowls down and steps back as Shaw starts scanning them through, standing next to Ava. She leans over. “What were you talking about?”

Ava coughs quietly and looks down. “Just, uh… discussing. The cats.”

Shaw whistles softly and looks up. “Gave her my hours, if you need any… help with the cats in the future.” Her eyes slide over to Ava. “Cool?”

Ava nods and holds back a wince when it feels like the contents of her brain are moving with her head. “Cool.”

Beatrice clears her throat. “Come on. Camila’s waiting for us.” She grabs a few bags and walks out. Ava grins sheepishly at Shaw, mouthing a _thank you_ and following her.

She vaguely hears her mutter something about useless pining idiots before the door swings closed.

The pills seem to work, for the most part. It’s not perfect, but everything is a lot less horrible now that she has them. She can actually be around the cats and Beatrice without feeling like she’s dying, which is a plus all around. She doesn’t need more, yet, so the slip of paper from Shaw is sitting in a drawer under some clothes.

A blue-grey cat crawls onto her lap and she scratches under her chin. That’s a weird thing, as well. Some of the cats give her almost no reaction, while others still cause her to break out in a fit of barely suppressed coughing. This one, for instance, had sat on her shoulder all day yesterday and she hadn’t had so much as a tickle in her throat, but when she went to sit with Beatrice and the orange tabby, she’d had to excuse herself within ten minutes to go cough up a lung in the bathroom. When Beatrice had asked her where she went at dinner, she’d made something up about forgetting to put a couple of weapons back properly and had gotten sidetracked. Beatrice had just raised a brow and frowned down at her plate, mumbling something about how it was good that she was starting to take things seriously. It was hard to feel guilty about lying when a black kitten scampered out from under Beatrice’s seat and started batting at Ava’s leg.

She’s startled out of the memory when the door slams shut, and she looks up to see Camila staring at her. She raises an eyebrow.

Camila shifts slightly. “You gonna tell her?”

Ava coughs. “Sorry, what?”

Camila frowns at her. “Stop that. Are you gonna tell Beatrice you’re allergic to cats?”

“No,” Ava grunts. “Have you seen her lately? Absolutely not.”

“That’s so dumb. You’re both so dumb, you know that, right?”

Ava blinks at her. “Why’s Bea dumb?”

Camila stares at her. “You know she’s sad because you’ve been spending less time with her?”

“I’ve been spending time with her!” Ava protests. “A lot, actually, just not constantly cause sometimes I need to crawl off to die in a bathroom for a minute, but still a lot! Why’s she sad?”

Camila’s eye ticks. “You’re an idiot. I’m leaving.”

She slams the door behind her. The cat in Ava’s lap looks up, tongue out.

“You don’t get it either, do you?” Ava asks it. It blinks at her slowly, tongue still out.

“Didn’t think so,” Ava grumbles.

So the pills hadn’t run out yet, but they _did_ need more cat things. So Ava digs the note from Shaw out of the drawer and looks at it with Mary to find a good time to go down, and wonders why Beatrice is frowning at the note so much.

Ava takes a page from Beatrice’s book this time and puts the blue cat in her backpack. She doesn’t seem to like that very much, so Ava carries her on her shoulder instead, not particularly caring about the looks she gets from random people on the street because Beatrice is smiling at her and running a finger over the cat’s head and is just very close to Ava in general, so that information is kind of occupying the majority of her brain.

As soon as they walk in, Shaw waves at them from the counter. “Back so soon?”

Beatrice looks over at her, slightly confused. “Oh, just here to pick up more cat litter.”

She nods, flicking her gaze to Ava. “The litters near the back, by the bowls. You guys didn’t get any, ah, toys for them the last time you were here. Ava, why don’t you come look at a few while…” She trails off, staring at Beatrice.

“Beatrice,” she mutters, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Right, while Beatrice gets the litter?”

“Uh,” Ava blinks and looks between the two. “Sure…?”

She shoots a glance at Beatrice and walks up, vaguely registering Beatrice walking towards the back and muttering under her breath.

When she reaches the counter, there’s already several toys laid out. She gives Shaw a questioning glance.

She waves a hand. “Had these picked out since last time, needed an excuse. How’s it going?”

Ava shakes her head. “Uh, fine, mostly. A lot better. Have to run off and cough for ages every once in a while but- hey!” She reaches to her shoulder to hold the cat out. “This one doesn’t give me any reaction!” 

Shaw smiles at the cat and holds a finger out for it to sniff. “Looks like a russian blue. They’re hypoallergenic.”

Ava stares at her. “What the fuck?”

“With the type of fur she’s got, she doesn’t need to groom as often, and there isn’t as much dander as other cats, which is where the stuff that actually gives you a reaction comes from,” she explains.

Ava blinks at the cat, running a hand down its spine. “Huh. Who would’ve thought.”

Shaw nods. “As long as you limit contact with the other cats, you should be mostly fine. Start showering every night, too, and don’t rewear clothes before they get washed, so you don’t sit and stew in the allergens constantly.”

Ava hears the tap of Beatrice’s shoes and clears her throat. “So, uh, what kind of toy would work best for, um. That.”

Shaw narrows her eyes at her.

Beatrice is holding a bag of litter over her shoulder. “What’re you talking about?”

Shaw smiles and leans down so she’s level with the cat, running a finger under its chin. She peers up at Beatrice. “Admiring this lovely lady, of course.”

Beatrice clenches her jaw and sets the bag down, probably harder than she had to. Ava frowns and puts a hand on her arm. “Bea, you alright?”

Her shoulders relax slightly and she nods. “Fine. I’d just like to- ah. I would like to get back before it gets too late.”

Shaw rolls her eyes and rings them up. “Make sure you shower thoroughly from your strenuous workout.”

Ava coughs and puts the cat back on her shoulder. “If you say so.”

Beatrice is quiet on the way back. Ava nudges her shoulder and tilts her head. “Hey, really, though. Are you okay?”

Beatrice smiles quickly at her and nudges her back, walking closer. “I’m fine.”

Ava frowns but lets it drop for now.

Ava does her best to follow Shaw’s advice. She can’t avoid the cats completely, they’re _everywhere,_ but she can mostly avoid direct contact with them. This leads to a lot of sudden excuses if she’s sitting with someone and one of the cats walks up, but they mostly don’t seem to care. The only one that seems to mind even a little bit is Beatrice, so Ava does her best to give it a couple of minutes to _really_ make sure that the cat doesn’t leave immediately. 

Ava’s sitting sprawled out on a random bench, relaxing, when Beatrice comes up and sits next to her. She sits up and bumps their shoulders together. “What’s up, Bea?”

The other girl smiles softly and looks at her hands, clasped in her lap. “Nothing. Been looking for you.”

Ava throws her arms out. “I’ve been here.”

Beatrice smiles again and looks at her. “You’ve been here.”

A black cat scurries in and sniffs at Beatrice’s foot.

“Uh,” Ava clears her throat. “What, uh, why have you been looking for me?”

Beatrice looks away, cheeks flushing slightly. “No reason. Just wanted to see you.”

“Aw,” Ava laughs, leaning into her. “That’s adorable. Am I your favorite? Wait, no, don’t answer that, we both know Camila is the favorite.”

Beatrice laughs slightly, but it seems kind of forced. “You are, ah, a very close second.”

Ava whoops and pumps her fist in the air. “I’ll take it! Nice!”

Beatrice falls quiet and just kind of looks at her for a moment. It feels like she’s about to say something, but then the cat jumps up onto her lap and she looks down at it, while Ava jumps up from the bench and spins to face her, backing away.

“Oh, I just remembered, uh, Mary and Lilith we’re going to teach me. Um. Hand-to-hand combat!” She clears her throat. “So I’m gonna. Get going to that.”

Beatrice frowns. “Oh, I thought you- well. I’ll see you later?”

Ava nods and turns to sprint down the hall. “Later, definitely!”

When Ava spots Mary leaning against a wall, absentmindedly playing with a lighter, she runs up to her immediately. “I need you to punch me.”

Mary raises a brow and socks her in the shoulder. She yelps. “I thought you would ask why, first!”

Mary shrugs. “Why?”

“I told Bea you were teaching me hand-to-hand combat,” Ava mumbles.

“Why?” She asks again.

“Needed an excuse to leave.”

Mary sighs. “You still haven’t said anything about the allergies?”

Ava looks up. “How the fuck did you know?”

She clicks her tongue at her. “Girl, the only one that doesn’t know is Beatrice. Mostly she’s just confused about why you keep leaving in the middle of shit. Why haven’t you told her?”

Ava looks away. “The cats make her happy. And the girl at the convenience store gave me medicine, so I’m better.”

Mary just whacks her lightly over the head. “You’re an idiot, you know that?”

“Yeah, you’ve mentioned it a few times.”

The pills run out a few days before they need to go back to the store for anything else, so Ava kind of shrugs and figures that she can hold out for a day or two. These things work on buildup, right?

Of course, the second day after they run out, Ava wakes up with about five cats piled around her. At this point she doesn’t know where they keep coming from. At any rate, she’s fine for about thirty seconds, until she sneezes so hard that she phases through the bed and lands on the floor. 

She closes her eyes and listens as the door squeaks open, Beatrice’s soft voice coming through the crack. “Ava?”

She rolls out from under the bed and looks up at her. “Hey.”

Beatrice blinks. “How’d that happen?”

“Uh,” Ava thinks for a moment, glancing back towards the bed. “Got startled. By the amount of cats.”

Beatrice giggles softly, and Ava kind of melts into the floor. Not that she wasn’t basically doing that already, but still. “Cute. We need more food for them, by the way, do you want to come with me to the store?”

 _Cute, she said cute- oh thank fuck._ Ava nods, coughing. “Yeah, that’d be- that’s a good idea.”

Beatrice leans down and runs a hand through Ava’s hair, smiling. “Alright. I’ve got to do my morning chores, and then we’ll go, okay?”

Ava nods slightly and watches her leave, letting her head thud to the floor once Beatrice leaves. The russian blue, which she had named Zafie, comes over and butts her head against her chest.

“I’m aware,” Ava tells her, scratching her back. “I’m fucked and an idiot. You should hang out with Mary more.”

The cat just purrs at her.

It’s past noon by the time they finally head out, and Ava is fully feeling the effects of being swarmed by cats in her sleep. Beatrice walks slightly ahead of her, just enough for Ava to continually make eye contact with the black kitten poking out of her bag. 

Shaw looks up as soon as they enter again, waving them over. “Back for more?”

Beatrice nods and pulls her bag across her chest, letting the cat climb onto her shoulder. “Yup. Need more food.”

Ava just stares blankly in Shaw’s direction, not even vaguely registering the conversation. She feels like maybe everything is slowly tilting around her. It’s not pleasant.

Shaw narrows her eyes at Ava and turns to face Beatrice. “Get out.”

Beatrice stares at her. “What?”

Shaw waves a hand. “Out of the store. There was. A gas leak earlier, yeah. Safety measures, one at a time. I’m sure Ava can handle getting the food, you should get the cat out of here.”

Beatrice glares at her. Shaw just looks back.

After a moment, Beatrice huffs and walks out, tucking the cat under her arm.

As soon as she’s out, Ava sneezes so violently that she blows herself backwards and hits a shelf, tumbling to the ground. She’s vaguely aware of the Halo glowing at her back, but she really just can’t bring herself to care.

“Jesus shit, are you fucking dead?” Shaw mutters, grabbing something and hopping over the counter to crouch in front of Ava. She presses two pills and some water into her hands. “Take two of these, I’m going to get the food.”

Ava groans and puts both in her mouth at once, sucking in a large gulp of water and coughing slightly. “Shit.”

Shaw comes back and hands her some tissues. “When did you run out?”

“Two days ago. I thought it’d be fine for a couple of days but today I woke up covered in cats.”

Shaw winces and starts scanning the food. “Has it been fine otherwise?”

Ava manages to nod in Shaw’s general direction, wincing when her head starts throbbing. “Yeah. Still not the best but nothing terrible.”

She nods and swings back over the counter. “Okay, I’m gonna give you two bottles this time. Take two a day until you start to feel better, and take these, for the headache.” She hands Ava a couple of painkillers, eyes flicking to her back. “You gonna blow up?”

Ava shakes her head and Shaw shrugs, pulling out a marker. She grabs Ava’s arm and starts writing on it. “You’re probably gonna feel worse for a few days before it gets better. You have a phone?” She waits for Ava to nod and continues. “I’m giving you my number, make something up about being worried about one of the cats being sick if you have to.”

Ava nods and stands slowly. “Thank you. Uh. Sorry about the shelves.”

Shaw waves her off. “Don’t worry about it, Azaz- uh.” She glances outside at Beatrice, who is fully dressed in her nun’s habit, then at Ava, who is still glowing slightly from the Halo. “Az. My friend named Az is a chaotic bitch, he’s done way worse than you.”

Ava blinks. That was a weird reaction but whatever. “Fair enough. Thanks anyways.”

Shaw shrugs and shoves the bottles into Ava’s pocket, handing her the food. “No problem. Happy trails, traveler.” She gives a little salute and whirls off to a back room.

Ava shoves the door open and nearly smacks into Beatrice. “Damn, Bea, what are you doing?”

Beatrice blinks at her. “Did the fumes get to you?”

Ava shoves her arm lightly and hoists the food bag over her shoulder. “No, I’m fine.”

Beatrice frowns and grabs her arm, tracing the numbers. “What’s this?”

Um-” _Shit._ “I, uh, mentioned that the orange cat--the first one, with the white paws--has seemed kinda lethargic and I was worried so Shaw said to watch her and if anything else happens to call and she’ll check up on her, which is, you know, pretty nice, and there wasn’t any paper so she put it on my arm, and I’m rambling now I’m sorry I’ll stop,” Ava rushes out, clamping her mouth shut.

Beatrice looks away, crossing her arms. “That’s nice of her.”

Ava clears her throat. “Yeah.”

Beatrice looks back at her. “So, you two talk?”

Ava frowns, furrowing her brow. “I guess.”

“That’s- that’s good. It’s good to… know people.”

Ava stares at her. “Did the fumes get to _you?”_

“No,” Beatrice shakes her head sharply. “I’m fine.”

The first day after she gets the new pills, Ava feels… well, not good, and definitely worse than she had been, but Shaw had said it’d feel worse before it felt better, right? Probably best to just stick it out.

The next day she wakes up barely able to breathe through her clogged nose and wheezing around a sudden buildup of shit in her throat. She scrabbles for her phone and punches in Shaw’s number, saved in the note app, and whines quietly when the light from the phone pierces her eyes.

The call picks up and there’s a fair amount of shuffling and grunting before Shaw says anything. “Hello?”

Ava tries to say something, coughs, spits into the trash, and groans.

“...Ava?” Shaw asks, before whacking at someone near her and telling them to get up.

Ava grunts again and starts rolling out of bed. “Help.”

Shaw starts moving around, the sound of drawers opening and closing filtering through the phone. “So obviously you’re congested, what else?”

“Throat.”

“Okay- hey, Az, get up, I need you to drive- you’re at Cat’s Cradle, right?”

Ava blinks. “How’d you know?”

She can practically visualize Shaw’s hand wave. “Doesn’t matter, I’ll be there soon. Go to like, a kitchen, or something.” She drops the call.

Ava chucks the phone onto her bed and makes her way to the kitchens.

The kitchens are completely quiet. Most of the building is, at this time, but it still feels weird. Ava sits on a counter and kicks her heels, waiting for Shaw to… show up? Text her and ask to be let in? She’s not entirely sure.

There’s a tap on a window and she nearly falls to the floor. Shaw waves at her and taps again, so Ava runs over and opens it.

“How the fuck did you get here?” she hisses as Shaw clambers past her.

“Az drove me, he’s waiting in the car,” Shaw says, dropping to the floor and walking over to a sink.

Ava follows her. “Oh, he could come in-”

“He can’t,” Shaw shakes her head. “Don’t worry about it.”

Ava blinks and moves on. There are more pressing matters. “My head’s gonna explode, help.”

Shaw pulls out a bottle and shakes it, producing a liquid sloshing sound. “Saline wash. Stick it up your nose and squeeze, should clear the shit right out.”

Ava takes it and frowns. “Wait, this isn’t like one of those ones where you pour it in one nostril and it comes out the other side, right?”

“No,” Shaw shudders. “Those are the fucking worst. This should drain back out of the same side, but some might trickle down to your throat.”

Ava nods and stands over the sink. “So, I just. Squeeze it?”

“Tilt your head to the side a bit, but yeah, that’s it,” Shaw says, pulling out a few tissues.

Ava leans back over the drain and tilts her head, holding the nozzle of the bottle to her nose. Taking a deep breath, she squeezes. It starts as a little pressure at the tip of her nose, but she can _feel_ the water working its way up. After a second it starts running back out, and a second later she feels some working its way to the back of her throat and coughs, ripping the bottle away from her face and spitting into the sink.

Shaw winces sympathetically and hands her a tissue. “Blow your nose, that side should be clear now.”

Ava does as she says and wipes at the rest of her face with the leftover tissue, wrinkling her brow. “Disgusting.”

Shaw nods. “Nasty. Do the other side now.”

Ava groans and leans back over the sink, repeating the process. When she’s finally done, she sniffs experimentally and blink. “Look at that, I can breathe again.”

“Proud of you,” Shaw claps her on the back. “I put tea on.”

Sure enough, a few minutes later they’re standing with their backs against the counter and sipping tea.

Shaw takes a sip and sighs. “Turmeric, ginger, and honey. Good for throats, and the steam helps loosen up anything left in your nose.”

Ava hums around her own sip. “It’s good.”

Shaw studies her for a moment, shifting around to face her. “Why haven’t you told her you’re allergic to cats?”

Ava looks away and flushes. “It’s been kinda… rough for her lately. They make her happy.”

Shaw coos at her. “That’s adorable.”

Ava tries to hit her shoulder, but Shaw sets her cup down on the counter and spins away, laughing. “Gotta do better than that-”

Something slams her to the ground and she yelps.

Ava startles. “Bea, what the hell?”

Beatrice looks up, pinning Shaw’s wrists to the ground. “Intruder!”

Shaw bucks her hips up and throws her backwards, scrambling to her feet. “Chill!”

Beatrice lunges at her again, but Shaw whirls away this time and jumps on a table. “Ava, call her off!”

Ava runs forward and grabs Beatrice’s arm. “Hey! Bea! What are you doing?”

Beatrice looks at her. “I, uh, thought she was breaking in.”

Ava shakes her head. “No, she was just, uh, helping me with something- why’d you go for her again after we said to stop?”

Beatrice looks away and mutters something about not being totally awake yet.

Shaw raises a brow and hops off the table, retrieving her tea and draining the cup. She heads back towards the window. “It’s been real, guys, but I gotta go. See you around.” She jumps up and runs off.

Beatrice blinks after her. “How’d she get here?”

Ava shrugs and turns back to her own tea, subtly shoving the saline spray into a drawer. “She said a friend drove her.”

Beatrice hums. “What was she helping you with?” Her tone seems carefully disinterested.

Ava freezes for a moment. “Uh… that orange cat. He, um, was spitting things up so I called her. Didn’t want to wake you.”

“You should have,” Beatrice frowns. “I’d have wanted to help.”

Ava hums. “I know, but you haven’t been sleeping well and I thought you should rest.”

She smiles softly. “Thank you, I…”

She trails off, and Ava waits for her to continue, but before she can Mary and Camila slam the doors open.

Ava’s sure she’s imagining the look of frustration that crosses Beatrice’s face when they say that they’re doing early training, and to come with them to the sparring mats.

Ava spends the next few days sleeping everywhere _but_ her bed. Shaw had said something about not sitting in allergens constantly, so until it’s laundry day and she can reasonably wash her sheets without suspicion, she decides to sleep in various places around Cat’s Cradle. She’s slept in tucked away alcoves, on benches, and straight-up sprawled across the floor. That one had been difficult to explain to Camila. The night before, Ava had just told everyone that she wanted to finish reading a book in the library, but Beatrice had offered to go with her to keep her company, and of course Ava couldn’t ever say no to her, so she winded up curled on an overstuffed chair with Beatrice… and the black cat. Beatrice had fallen asleep around one or two in the morning, and Ava had migrated to a bean bag a little while later, pulling a random blanket over her entire body.

She wakes up to a soft poke in the side and lets out a crackly groan, throat feeling thick. She coughs slightly and whines.

“Ava,” Beatrice whispers.

“Gooo ‘wayyy,” she whines.

“Ava, it’s me, Beatrice.”

“I knooowwwwww.”

Beatrice twitches the blanket back and looks at her. Ava opens one eye to peer up at her. The soft light makes it kind of look like she’s glowing.

Beatrice tilts her head. “Still want me to go?”

The black cat is basically at eye level with Ava. She wrinkles her nose at it and hisses, pulling the blanket up to cover her nose. “Yes. Sleeps.”

Beatrice clears her throat and looks away. “Okay then. Come on, Nox.” She picks the cat up and leaves quickly.

Ava frowns slightly but closes her eyes again, trying to drift off once more.

A paw lands gently on her cheek.

Ava opens her eyes to glare at Zafie. “What?”

She meows quietly.

“That’s not words,” Ava tells her.

Zafie gently sticks her paw on Ava’s nose and meows again, tail waving at the door.

“You don’t make sense.”

Zafie looks about as affronted as a cat can possibly look. She turns around, sitting with her back towards Ava.

She sighs and leans up on her elbows. “What do you want?”

Zafie flicks her tail and walks off in the direction Beatrice had gone in.

 _Ohhhhhh._ Beatrice. Who doesn’t know Ava is allergic to cats, and who Ava just told very directly to leave.

Ava scrambles up and starts running, shouting back at Zafie as if she can understand her. “YOU’RE THE BEST!”

Zafie just meows and lies down.

Ava sprints into the dining hall and practically drags Beatrice out of her seat, barely acknowledging Lilith and Camila who are also sitting at the table. “Hey can I borrow Bea for a minute gotta discuss important business okay thanks bye!”

Beatrice yelps slightly and waves over her shoulder. “Ava, what are you doing?”

Ava pulls her into a smaller hallway and leans against the wall. “Needed to talk to you.”

Beatrice pulls her hand away and looks down. “I thought you were going to go back to sleep, since you told me to leave."

Ava studies her quietly for a moment. “Yeah, I just… you seemed kind of off, I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Beatrice folds her fingers together. “I’m fine.”

“You aren’t,” Ava challenges her. “You won’t look at me. What’s wrong?”

Beatrice jerks her head up to stare at her. “Seriously?”

Ava pushes off the wall and walks the couple of steps it takes to cross the hall and stand in front of her. “Yes. I want to know what’s wrong.”

Beatrice snorts. “You’re an idiot.”

“So I’ve been told.”

She looks away. “You’ve been spending a lot of time alone, recently. Away.”

Ava frowns. “I mean, I’m always here-”

“Away from me.”

She blinks and stops.

“And I just- we were getting closer, I thought, I’ve never really had that before and I really liked it and I thought you did too, but then the cats and _Shaw_ and you started pulling away, but you tried to hide it, and then this morning you actually told me to leave and I don’t. Um. I need a bit to figure out what’s happening, so if you let that happen that would be great.”

Ava feels frozen. She hadn’t meant- she didn’t mean to make Beatrice think _any of that,_ she really just wanted Beatrice to be happy and she knew that if Beatrice saw her constantly coughing and sneezing and straight-up dying whenever she was near the cats she’d try to get the cats homes elsewhere because _damn it_ she’s too selfless for her own good, and Ava opens her mouth to say all of that, but instead-

“I’m allergic to cats.”

Beatrice blinks at her, eyes kind of watering. “What?”

Ava clears her throat and looks down. “I’m allergic to cats. That’s why I’ve been leaving so quickly whenever we talk, because the cats love you and they follow you so I would wait a few minutes after they showed up so I could talk to you. If a cat shows up with any of the others I leave immediately.”

“Oh,” Beatrice breathes out.

Ava nods. “And that’s why I haven’t been sleeping in my bed, because there’s cat dander and fur and crap in there and that’s not very good but I didn’t want you to ask why I was washing my sheets all the time so I haven’t been sleeping there.”

Beatrice tilts her head back to rest against the wall. “How did you figure this out?”

“...Uh,” Ava coughs. “Remember the first time we went down to the store? And Shaw told you to get food bowls and I stayed at the front?”

Beatrice nods, frowning slightly.

“So, uh, Shaw basically cornered me immediately. She shoved a bottle of allergy pills in my pocket and told me to take one a day. And when she told you to look in the back for the cat litter and showed me toys she told me that Zafie was hypoallergenic.”

“So the schedule…”

“Was so I could come back for a refill.”

Beatrice leans tips her head forward. “And the number? And the time she sent me out of the store because of a ‘gas leak?’” She air-quotes the words.

Ava clears her throat. “That was the day I told you I phased through the bed because I was startled by the kittens?”

“Yes?”

“...I sneezed so hard I fell through it. I had run out of pills two days before. As soon as you left the store I sneezed hard enough to knock myself back into a shelf. Shaw gave me her number so I could let her know if I was actively dying, or something. And two days later, when she appeared in the middle of the kitchen and you, uh, tackled her, she was teaching me how to use a nasal spray because I couldn’t breathe through my nose and my throat was disgusting.”

Beatrice reaches out and runs a hand down Ava’s arm. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Ava flushes. “The cats made you happy, and I knew if I said something you’d want to find another home for them because you’re so selfless so I didn’t.”

Beatrice stares at her for a moment, settling her hands on Ava’s hips. “Wow.”

“Yeah, cause like you said we were getting closer and I like you a lot so your happiness is really important-”

It takes her brain a moment to realize exactly why what she had been saying had suddenly been cut off, and as soon as it does it short-circuits again. _Soft. Wow. Good. Oh, hands- warm. AAAAAA!_

Beatrice pulls back suddenly and hits the wall, shutting her eyes. “Shit, I mean fuck, I mean- _sorry,_ I thought-”

Ava takes a second to stare at her before reaching up to grip the front of Beatrice’s shirt, pulling her back in. She squeaks in surprise and whimpers, just a little bit, hands coming up to cup Ava’s jaw.

She smiles and pulls away, just enough to lean her forehead against Beatrice’s and catch her breath. “What were you saying?”

Beatrice lets out a little huff. “Shush.”

“Never. You’re stuck with me, now.”

Beatrice smiles and leans back in. “Good.”

Camila throws her arms in the air and flops backwards onto a couch later, when Ava and Beatrice walk into the library hand in hand. “Fucking finally! Lilith owes me so much money.” She races towards the other side of the library, shouting behind her to watch her phone.

Ava tumbles onto the couch, pulling Beatrice down with her and wiggling so they’re curled up together. “Crazy kids these days.”

Beatrice snorts and presses her nose into Ava’s hair. “Because you’re so much older.”

“Yes, exactly.”

Camila’s phone starts to ring, so Ava reaches over and picks it up. She blinks and narrows her eyes when she hears the voice on the other end.

“Yo, Cam, did they figure it out yet? There’s only so many excuses that’ll work before Beatrice just refuses to leave Ava alone with me-”

Ava sits up, ignoring Beatrice’s muttered protest. “Shaw.”

There’s silence, a faint sound of shuffling and a phone being chucked at another person, and then a boy’s voice comes through, bright and shiny. “Hi, this is Shaw’s phone, unfortunately she’s preoccupied with being stuck in the ceiling right now, please call again later!” He hangs up.

Ava stares at the phone. “I think I need to either go commit a homicide or save Shaw’s life, I’m not sure which.”

Beatrice frowns and pulls her back down. “No, that’s not allowed anymore. Gotta stay here.”

Ava hums and worms her way back under Beatrice’s chin. “Okay. Protect me from the cats?”

Beatrice wraps an arm around her. “Of course.”

Ava smiles. Allergies were still bitches, but this was pretty good.

**Author's Note:**

> once again sponsored by sleep deprivation and the wn discord server  
> this took longer than it was supposed to, and also is longer than it was supposed to be  
> check out For The Sunshine In Your Smile by Castibella_Shipper_of_the_Lord for her take on Ava with cats  
> my tumblr is @idragonspyro, feel free to come scream at me there


End file.
